Imagine 2, Life in Variant

My father made the round table tall enough for him to sit comfortably at. Our family is small, and so we can all sit here together. The house is different, a little smaller than the one I grew up in, but the yard is larger. My mom’s had time to get a vegetable garden going, but she never was very good at growing delicate plants, so we have lots of strawberries and peas, but we had to get the lettuce from the farmer’s market. The day is warm and the windows are open, and I am home for a few weeks. I am waiting for a few corrections on my manuscript from my editors. It is peaceful. We sit up long into the night with plenty of food, organic salad and fresh bread, grass-fed beef and homemade ravioli.

…or…

I am sitting in the airport. I wince as I get the bottle of water, but I don’t want soda, and there is nothing else. It is late, half the places to eat in the airport are closed. I am tired. I end up with half a sub packed with iceberg lettuce and half melted cheese. It’s not wonderful, but I am hungry as well as tired. I am between trips. On my way from one place to another, trying to think of what story I can glean from my last trip. I close my eyes and lean back in the uncomfortable plastic chair.

…or…

I drop a couple capsules of vitamins into the canteen, and one to clean the water. It is hot this close to the equator. I shake it up before passing the bottle to one of the other workers and smile. We’re too exhausted by this time to talk much. The sun is sinking down and our work makes a silhouette against the sun – the outline of a building coming into shape.

The trucks brought fresh fruit today, so as I pass off the last canteen and prepare my own I can grab mango too.

We sit around a couple solar lanterns that come on as the sunlight fades, and talk quietly. We’re tired, and tomorrow is another long day, but there is something about being able to see the physical progress of labor that makes the old bread and new fruit sweeter.

…or…

The kids are out back. I rush around the kitchen, trying to get as much done while I cook as I can, while they are distracted. I know I should be doing better. The food is mostly organic, but it’s from a chain store, and with the way they’ve lowered organic standards in the last few years…

It’s better than what most of their friends eat, but I know if I just had a little more time…

…or…

I’m alone with my computer and Chinese takeout and my cat. Outside my apartment window the smog is so bad I cannot see anything but the diffused glow of traffic lights. I keep the windows closed, even on warm nights like this, and think about what I should have been doing to stop it from happening.

…or…

I’m at my sister’s house, with my parents and her family. I brought the kids things from Tokyo,
and London, and Havana.

I’m about to finish my last undergrad semester, and I’m not sure where I will end up yet. So this reflects that.